Many different manifestations previously known almost exclusively to the occult are sweeping the church world. Is it the Holy Spirit or is it “psychic activity?” You will eventually have to answer that question for yourself, hopefully after you finish this article. Sharp division between the real and the false will soon be a requirement for Christian living and church attendance, if not already. For too long the church has drifted like a ship without a rudder. In many congregations Biblical truth has been treated lightly while social and emotional matters have demanded attention. This closing hour does not allow for such carelessness neither does it allow a light treatment of the “spirit of discernment.” Those who do not have a firm and conscious hold on Biblical values and Biblical truth will not be able to survive.
A few proof texts of Scripture are not enough for this unprecedented hour. Jesus said, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:5). Because someone says all the right things about Jesus does not prove they are speaking the truth. Even if the teacher, pastor, evangelist, or so-called prophet can prove that some of his prophecies have come to pass, that does not prove anything about his standing before God. Psychics, like Jeanne Dixon and Edgar Cayce, have prophesied certain events that came to pass, but their lives and beliefs attest to the absence of the Lord Jesus and His Spirit in their lives.
Over and over the Holy Scripture warns us of these last days. Apostle Paul, speaking specifically about the Antichrist, said the following. “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
Years ago, when I read the Biblical statement made by Jesus, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24), it made no sense to me. Deceive the very elect if possible? I thought, how could that be? The great Christians that I served the Lord Jesus beside were as solid as a rock. The real church world did not tolerate false doctrines or questionable activity that passed the points of acceptable order. That day is gone.
Calling “Psychic Activity” The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit
When I first wrote that the mass psychic activities that were sweeping New Wave churches was an altered state of consciousness, I trembled that maybe that was too harsh or far-fetched. Little did I know that the so-called Kansas City Prophets and, now, the defenders of the “Toronto Blessing” were already saying that all of the New Wave activity was a kind of psychic phenomenon, except they said it in a positive vein. In a book entitled, Some Said It Thundered (1991) by David Pytches (foreword by Dr. John White and afterword by Jamie Buckingham), dealing with the “Kansas City Prophets” this kind of thinking was clearly believed and fully expressed.
Here are several clear statements reported from those interviewed, along with some of their rationale for this idea.
“Our first question was: How do prophets receive their revelations? Is it through the ‘psyche’ (soul) or the ‘pneuma’ (spirit)? This was important for us to clarify. For the average Christian the word ‘psychic’ is tainted by its association with the occult, but in fact the Greek word ‘psyche’ is a wholesome New Testament word translated ‘soul’. Such a good biblical word clearly needs redeeming today. The psychic center in each of us seems to have a vital role to play in the area of revelation from God.
“Then if occultists get limited communication from the powers of darkness on to the psyche, which some claim to be the case (though obviously such revelations, even when true, have an evil origin for evil objectives), then such a counterfeit must be matched by a genuine experience from God almighty.
“They seemed to have no problem in accepting the term psychic in this pure sense to describe one part of the process of divine revelation to human beings.
“The human spirit is a channel that picks up spiritual transmissions from God or from the powers of darkness, and these are reflected on to the screen of the psyche, the soul. The same TV channel can carry beastly cruelty, pornography, or breathtaking beauty. The responsibility for the subject matter lies not in the channel itself but in the source of the transmission or the choice of the person tuning into the program.” (Some Said It Thundered, David Pytches, pp. 106-107, 1991.)
Never in church history or my Biblical studies have I heard such thinking defended. The Word Study Dictionary says, “The soul belongs to the lower region of man’s (immaterial) being…” (The Word Study Dictionary, page 1494.) The soul cannot be confused with our spirit, which is God breathed or the breath of God. This breath from God exists in us as our spirit. The Spirit is our spiritual connection to God. Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in “spirit” and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:23).
There is no clear distinction in the secular or occultic world between the soul and the spirit as is clearly seen in Holy Scripture.
While both belong to the immaterial, the soul represents the lower region of this immaterial aspect of man, while the spirit represents the higher. The soul is the seat of the depraved nature, while the spirit, though dead in the unregenerate man, is from the Lord. It is said that God made “the soul (of Jesus) an offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10). But at the event of Calvary when the soul was being made an offering for sin Jesus said as His two closing statements, “It is finished.” and, “Father, into They hands I commend my spirit.”
Except for the three hours that the Father hid His face, Jesus Christ by His Spirit was in perfect fellowship with God His Father. To suggest that our relationships to the Holy Spirit are patterned after His relationship and then to call such relationships psychic activity is to accuse Jesus of being a psychic. It is totally contrary to the orthodox interpretation of Scripture and certainly the very history of the church. This is the false idea that arises from the concept of Jesus as a paranormal person that had to go into hell and be born again.
We do not nor cannot commune with Jehovah God through our soul. We can communicate with fallen spirits or Satan (if we are willing to pay the price Satan requires) by the soul, but not the Heavenly Father. The Scripture clearly forbids any communication with fallen angels or evil spirits because they now serve the enemy of God, Satan. God taught the children of Israel, “And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people” (Leviticus 20:6). That is an irrefutable commandment coupled with a dire warning.
The New Wave Emotions, Called “Altered States Of Consciousness”
One book that defends the many emotions of the New Wave revival suggested that we consider autosuggestion, hysteria, and crown phenomena as affecting our minds and bodies. The author asserts that prayer, fasting, and speaking in tongues, can affect our conscious state and subsequently our spiritual awareness. He further states that such altered states of consciousness are a part of the “normal” Christian experience and Charismatic faith.
The author distinguishes “altered states of consciousness” as separate from our normal waking and sleeping states and says that, in everyday language, we might refer to ASCs as a trance, hypnosis, dream or ecstasy. He considers them as the “key to making sense of Christian experience, particularly what is happening in many churches today.” (Ibid., pp. 259 – 260.)
Saying, “One could argue that ASCs, in the context of faith in Christ and prayerful obedience, are the basis of dynamic, personal, relevant, living faith,” the author lists six characteristics of an Altered State of Consciousness (Signs Of Revival, Dr. Patrick Dixon, MA, MBBS, p. 260.):
1. “Alterations in thinking.
2. “Altered sense of time.
3. “Loss of control.
4. “Changes in emotional expression.
5. “Body image changes.
6. “Perceptual changes or hallucinations.” (Ibid., p. 261-263.)
Those who are grounded in God’s Holy Word will realize that these characteristics most certainly do not describe the marvelous activities of the Holy Spirit in the temple of Godly saints. The Holy Spirit does nothing in our bodies and vessels that He does not reflect or do in His own personality or character. He is in Himself whatever He is in any one of the children of God and nothing more or less.
The Big Picture
These psychic activities are not isolated phenomenon. The seed of occultic deception has been growing in the church world for a number of years. There is clear integration between what is happening in the New Age cults and what is happening in the church. The direction of these ideas is identical.
The Kansas City Prophets
One fellowship in Kansas City under Pastor Mike Bickle has exhibited clear psychic signs. The book, Some Said It Thundered, defends the whole story of this church. The author of the foreword, Dr. John White, refers to “baby prophets and their difficulties distinguishing the words of the Holy Spirit from ones generated by their own hearts and/or evil sources.” He says, “At first, they make many mistakes. We know they hear from God because of the reality of the true words they speak.” (Some Said It Thundered, David Pytches, p. xiv.) I have never heard of a “baby prophet” before. I have always believed God moved through people when they were spiritually prepared. One problem I perceive is that when you are listening to what you think is God by psychic intuition, you cannot be sure to whom you are listening. No wonder they become confused as to their source.
The entire story appears to connect John White and the Kansas City Prophets back to the Latter Rain Movement of the forties and fifties. In fact one of the ministers of that period, Paul Cain, is intimately tied to this particular church and ministry. The Latter Rain Movement was riddled with confusion, false doctrines, and was utterly rejected by the mainline Pentecostal churches. Here is a quote from one of Cain’s sermons at the Kansas City Fellowship:
“You know this message is 35 years old and I’m just preaching it again. Thank God I’ve found somebody to preach it to. I told you about the vision, what I’ve had. This recurring vision of standing at the crossroads of life and the angel of the Lord said, ‘You are standing at the crossroads of life. What do you see?’ And I saw a brilliantly lit billboard, which reads JOEL’S ARMY NOW IN TRAINING . . . See I’ve been wanting to share this for so long and find somebody. How would you like to have something on the back burner for 35 years and nobody had any . . . boy this is, I mean this isn’t leftovers. I mean this has been hot with me all these years, but everywhere I tried to preach it, they cooked my goose. Don’t you boo me. This kind of fiery preaching is a lost art today except in a very mild degree.” (Joel’s Army, cassette from Kansas City Prophets.)
Paul Cain, according to details in the book and other sources, has exhibited psychic characteristics from his childhood. The author of Some Said It Thundered included this story about Mike Bickle and Paul Cain.
“On one occasion after Mike Bickle had been complaining to hiswife that he had ‘a bit of a sniffle’ or a slight cold — something he rarely had — the phone rang. Bickle picked up the receiver and heard Paul on the line. He had heard about Paul’s gift so he said by way of a joke, ‘Hi, Paul! You’re all right today! How am I?’ Immediately Paul answered him, ‘Why, Mike, you’ve got a bit of a sniffle and you are all wet. Your hair is standing up on the left side of your head.’
“Bickle called his wife Diane to look at him. ‘Sweetheart, Paul says I have a ‘sniffle,’ I am all wet and my hair is standing up on one side. Am I all wet?’
“‘Yes,’ she said. ‘You’ve just come out of the shower.’
“‘And is my hair standing up on one side?’
“‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘on the left side!’” (Some Said It Thundered, David Pytches, p. 30.)
Here is another story repeated in the book, “On his (Paul Cain) first visit to Anaheim (to visit John Wimber) in February 1988 Paul saw powerful lights across the room and a strong sense of the presence of God was accompanied by revelations in the word of knowledge. On that occasion an expensive video camera was short-circuited. This was battery operated and not plugged into any outlet. The next night the telephone system was blown out though no one was on the phone at the time.” (Ibid., p. 52.)
Is there any precedence for this kind of paranormal or psychic power in the Holy Scripture being identified as the work of the Holy Spirit? Such unbiblical thinking dominates almost every detail of these prophets, and the entire New Wave religion.
The writer of this book stated, “The responsibility for the subject matter lies not in the channel itself but in the source of the transmission or the choice of the person tuning into the program.” That statement would imply that the whole matter is like tuning a radio, either to heavenly voices or hellish voices, and all without any similitude of spiritual maturity.
In the scope of the author’s interview with these so-called Kansas City individuals the following conversation was reported:
“John Paul shared how the Lord had dealt with him over a problem he had with occasionally confused visions that came to him as flashbacks resulting from watching TV too much. He said that for the prophetic ministry that God had given him, the more television he watched the fewer true visions from God that he could experience.
“Bob Jones agreed that the Lord would not let him watch much TV either. ‘I can’t get into that fantasy realm — it cuts off my visions!’
“They advised watching carefully against counterfeit visions of any kind. Someone mentioned alcohol as creating confusion, since when taken in excess people can begin to ‘see’ things.”
“Another problem they shared was the danger of confusion over revelations where the person receiving them had particularly strong opinions, prejudices, or unresolved bitterness in certain areas. It was easy to distort such revelations and color their own interpretations.” (Ibid., p. 108.)
It’s interesting to note that drinking “excessive” alcohol is considered a possible deterrent to giving good prophecies. Please note that Bob Jones, one of the Kansas City prophets at that time, called prophetic revelations getting into the fantasy realm.
Kansas City And A Paradigm Shift
The author of Some Said It Thundered clearly identified his experiences with the Kansas City Prophets as a paradigm shift, which we discussed in chapter one. Capable and skilled writers do not lightly use this New Age term. The meaning is dynamic to anyone that knows this age and the spirit of the Antichrist. Every New Ager is calling for a paradigm shift. Writer David Pytches said, “We felt we were experiencing a paradigm shift — we were beginning to see another way of looking at the foundational things we held dear, without having in any way to discard them. Perhaps that is what the Bible meant when it spoke about scales falling from Paul’s eyes.” (Ibid., p. 140.)
Barbara Hubbard (noted New Ager) writes in her books, “Teachings from the Inner Christ, how the human race will soon experience a day of ‘Planetary Pentecost.’ Hubbard, claiming to be in contact with ‘Christ,’ writes ‘the Planetary Smile is another name for the Planetary Pentecost. When enough of us share a common thought [paradigm shift] of our oneness with God, Spirit will be poured out on all flesh paying attention.’ (p. 79). In her book, The Revelation, Hubbard says, ‘Christ, in describing the planetary smile, said: “an uncontrollable joy will ripple through the thinking layer of the earth.” “…This massive sudden empathic alignment will cause a shift in the consciousness [paradigm shift] of Earth’ (p. 234-235). Writing in Happy Birth Day Planet Earth, Hubbard repeats what she heard from ‘Christ.’ He said, ‘as the planetary smile ripples through the nervous systems of earth, … separation is overcome, and I appear to all of you at once (p. 10-11).” (The words “paradigm shift” added at appropriate places.) (SCP Newsletter, Volume 19:2, p. 13. Published by Spiritual Counterfeits Project, P. O. Box 4308, Berkeley, CA 94704.)
New Wave leaders and their subjects are having the same paradigm shift. They are learning a complete new way of looking at things, plus, they are using new “enlightened” words to still claim and describe the old discarded truth. All of this is identical to what is happening to the leading New Agers. The Planetary Pentecost described by Hubbard is identical to the different phenomenon going on in present day New Wave churches. All of this shows the psychic nature of these strange activities.
Psychic Powers And Warnings Of Destruction
The printed materials of these writers are filled with constant pronouncements and warnings of judgment to all resisters. They say that anyone who resists this “new move of God” is an enemy to the Lord.
Notice how one well-known speaker warns his audience and readers with fear of judgment, “One of these days, you may just be talking to someone, asking them how things went at church last Sunday, and they may say, Oh it was great! The glory of God was strong it healed ten cripples, opened the ears of thirty deaf people, cured seven cases of cancer and killed Brother Bigmouth and Sister Strife.” (“Voice of Victory,” October, 1994).
Christians have a vital choice to make this speaker stated, “When the fire of God begins to burn and the rivers of the Spirit start to flow, he’ll have to do one of two things: he’ll either have to yield to the Spirit and let go of that sin by repenting, or he’ll have to resist the flood of God’s Spirit and be swept away.” (Mainstream, Winter 1994, p. 3. Published by Banner Ministries, Box 23, Belper, Derbys DE56 1QR, UK.)
In the book entitled, Epic Battles Of The Last Days, two themes appear. One is a call to battle and another is the constant warning of judgment to scare anyone who resists. He states, “Criticism is one of the ultimate manifestations of pride because, whenever we criticize someone else we are by that assuming that we are superior to them. Pride brings that which any rational human being should fear the most — God’s resistance. We would be better off having all of the demons in hell resisting us than God!” (Epic Battles Of The Last Days, Rick Joyner, p. 23.)
Almost any subject this author discussed, he used it to warn people about judgment or resistance against what his book represents. When he discussed witchcraft, Jezebel or Antichrist, he applied it to resisters. Of Jezebel he said, “Jezebel, who is one of the archetypes of witchcraft in scripture, used her power to control her husband who was the authority over Israel. She was also able to bring such depression upon Elijah that he sought death over life, even after his greatest spiritual victory. There is great power in this evil; those who are ignorant of it, or who presumptuously disregard its potential to affect them, are very often brought down by it, usually without even knowing what hit them.” (Ibid., p. 78.)
He did not ever touch what Jezebel really represented. His book can best be described as propaganda for the new theology and self-styled theologians that are sweeping churches. I get the feeling he is the New Breed’s rear guard to scare anyone who dares to resist or tell the truth about his new wave teachings.
Another author does the same kind of use of judgment in his materials. In his booklet, entitled The Jezebel Spirit, he writes, “Jezebel’s worst enemies are the prophets; her worst fear is that the people will embrace repentance. Jezebel hates repentance. Though this spirit will infiltrate the church, masking its desire for control with true Christian doctrines, it will hide from true repentance…Jezebel hates the prophets, for the prophets speak out against her. The prophets are her worst enemies. When she wars, it is to stir people against the message of the prophetic church. More than she hates the prophets, she hates the word they speak.” (The Jezebel Spirit, Francis Frangipane, p. 6.)
The Fourth Dimension
Probably no one helped prepare the church world for this deception better than those who teach the idea of the Fourth Dimension do. Tricia Tillin describes one author and his ideas in an excellent publication from the United Kingdom.
“Paul (David) Yonggi Cho teaches the same thing. In The Fourth Dimension he tells of his frustration that Buddhist monks and yogic healers could perform miracles. Then the Holy Spirit supposedly revealed to him that the fourth dimension, the spirit realm, is available to all whether Christian or not, for it contains both good and evil powers. ‘So men, by exploring their spiritual sphere of the fourth dimension of visions and dreams in their imaginations, can brood over and incubate the third dimension (the material world) influencing it and changing it.’ This applies to all men alike. Because God gave man dominion over the earth, says Cho, unbelievers can ‘develop their inner spiritual being’ and change the material world. Thus Christians also have the responsibility to ‘realize their inner potential’ and manipulate the fourth dimension for good.” (Mainstream, Winter 1994, p. 11. Published by Banner Ministries, Box 23, Belper, Derbys DE56 1QR, UK.) Anyone who teaches this idea of a fourth dimension is dealing with psychic activities and the depraved soul, not the Holy Spirit. While there are some temporary results to these kinds of activities, they are totally evil and will eventually turn on the person’s head.
“Psychic Warfare”, “Territorial Spirits” and “Dominion Theology”
Behind much of the present deception and/or confusion is the new prophetic view of Jesus Christ and His coming. Only a few short years have passed since the dominant message in the Evangelical World was the “imminent Rapture before the Great Tribulation.” Even those who held to a mid- or post-tribulation view were very close in spiritual kinship to the pre-trib view and its proponents.
A deep bitterness now exists toward the traditional view of prophecy. This new breed of prophets and spokespersons is preparing for all out war to take the kingdom by these psychic powers. Paul Cain says that there will be an army, called Joel’s Army, and that God will equip them to perform His judgments. In the book, Some Said It Thundered, the Kansas City Fellowship is identified as the location for training this army.
“By the time Paul Cain arrived in Kansas City the fellowship was well settled into their new meeting place at the Grandview Worship Center. Paul immediately recognized the location from the crossroads outside as the place which the Lord had showed him many times (possibly twenty, over as many years) as a spiritual training center for the soldiers of Joel’s army that God was raising up for the coming revival.
“‘Many years ago,’ said Paul, ‘I came to the crossroads of life and I saw a vision of an illuminated billboard on which was written: “Joel’s army in training.” It was on these crossroads with an arrow pointing to this spot — though there was no building on it then! I believe God has shown me that here he is going to raise up an army. This army is not a destructive army but a deliverance army…’” (Some Said It Thundered, David Pytches, p. 132.).
His idea of deliverance is not the traditional loving idea. It’s “bow or burn” that these men are talking about.
Roger Forster wrote in a foreword to the book, Territorial Spirits, “These structures [territorial principalities] will be refurbished with a whole new personnel. The final overthrow of Satan’s rebellious colonial government by the central government of God is preceded by the faith-sons of Abraham bringing blessing to all the families of the earth. This demands territorial claims and advance through the earth.” (Emphasis added.) “Eventually, this resistance movement can provide sufficient numbers of trained personnel to take over the authority and administration of the colony from Satan and his angels, giving the least amount of disturbance to the heavenly structural powers … until such a network of resistance against Satan is found all over the earth, the second coming of our Lord is held up and his total reign restrained.” (Mainstream, Spring 1994, p. 10.)
The following statements show how widely this view of this dominion theology has become.
Cindy Jacobs: “Today’s praying church is rising up in militant force to possess the promised land of our nations.”
John Dawson: “There is not one reason why we, the Church, should concede one square inch of this planet to the government of territorial spirits. This is our planet.”
Francis Frangipane: “All spiritual warfare is waged over one essential question: who will control reality on earth – heaven or hell? … We must see that our prayers, attitudes and agreement with God are an integral part of establishing the reality of the kingdom of God on earth!” (Mainstream, Spring 1994, p. 10.)
Rick Joyner, probably one of the cleverest writers of this new breed, says the following, “The church is at war. This war will not end because we do not like it, or we do not want to fight. Fortresses of darkness are being raised up in all directions — in government, schools, business, entertainment, in our neighborhoods — they are even being raised up in the church! … Even so, as improbable as it may seem at this time — we have the enemy surrounded! The church is about to win her greatest victory. This is her finest hour — the retreat is over and the advance is about to begin.” “… This generation has been called to carry the banner of the Lord into the greatest epic battle of all time. The last day church has been given one of the greatest privileges that has ever been bestowed by God upon men — to be on the field of battle for the ultimate confrontation between light and darkness.” (Epic Battles Of The Last Days, Rick Joyner, p. 13.)
“The Lord has already defeated our enemies. He could have banished them to hell on the day of His resurrection, but He left them here for us because He wants His bride to share the honor! In these last days she will surely be, ‘As awesome as an army with banners’ (Song of Solomon 6:10).
“The Lord has called His bride to rule and reign with Him as joint heir. He let this conflict continue for over 2,000 years so that His bride could prove herself, and grow in the faithfulness and grace that is needed for her great position.
“The whole creation, including the principalities and powers, is watching to see what the church is really made of. Will we love the Lord, truth, and righteousness, more than we love this present world? Only those who love not their own lives unto death are fit for the great throne that has been prepared for the bride of Christ.”
“This book is but one trumpet call among many that are now calling the saints to battle.” (Epic Battles Of The Last Days, Rick Joyner, p. 14.)
This manner of theology is certainly contrary to Biblical truth. These writers mix a little bit of truth that applies to the future Millennium after Jesus returns to establish His kingdom with Kingdom Dominion Theology. No error is ever so powerful as that error that is filled with a mixture!
Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org
